The W adventureThe W Hotel on Leicester Square in London – a question of response

Text: Alison RitterPhotos: Tom Brill und Rob Honeywill

Try googling what the “W” in W Hotel stands for? You can basically concoct your own answer. One suggestion relates to the W Hotels’ Whatever/Whenever service policy towards guests, meaning you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it, as long as it’s not illegal, immoral or wrong. “Wow” is a pretty safe bet, given that the hotel chain offers Wow suites and Wow Apartments. When it comes to the W Hotel that opened in London’s Leicester Square last February the W might well stand for Welcoming, Wacky, or just plain Wunderbar. That said, the exterior lighting scheme is a
World-first.

The two sides of the coin at the W Hotel on Leicester Square are quite clearly interior and exterior. Viewed through the eyes of anyone out on the town, the light art installation over the glazed wrap-around façade is an all-round winner. It sets the scene on Leicester Square by literally reflecting what is going on around it. So whether you actually end up spending the evening in one of the W Hotel bars or not – and the façade is likely to inspire you to do so – big city excitement expressed in the form of awe-inspiring changing pastels is guaranteed. The concept behind the dynamic artwork on the glazed façade was developed by Jason Bruges Studio. The installation records the activity of the surrounding buildings and skyline 24 hours a day. Cameras mounted on the roof capture the panoramic view on the façade of the building using 600 lights diffused through the fritted glass. The performances automatically respond to seasonal changes and special events around the building, such as film festivals, premieres and the Chinese New Year, and are thus unique every time you visit. The interior architects’ firm with the straightforward name of Concrete commissioned to design all the interior spaces had a clear vision of how the interior narrative was to unfold throughout all of the public areas and suites. The lighting designers from MBLD, who were involved late in the design process, worked closely with the team from Concrete to support their design intention and make every space part of a coherent narrative but somehow unique. […]
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